Resist the temptation to water at night

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Drip and soak

In anticipation of a hot summer in central Texas (imagine that), watering trees and shrubs deeply and tracking the watering needs of flowers and vegetables daily is a necessity.

The best times to water are early morning daylight or early evening as the day cools down – cooler temperatures when the light is out. As tempting as night watering is, night watering is not healthy for the plants as it can promote fungus growth. Summer is when drip systems, soaker hoses and the like are the best in promoting watering at the source and not being wasted from evaporation.

Fun piece: are you using peanut butter, bird seed and pine cones to make bird feeders? Great project for big and little helpers. An easy way to get the last of the peanut butter cleaned from your jar is to place a package of instant oatmeal and hot water. As the oatmeal is getting itself ready for you to eat, it will pull the oils of the peanut butter off the jar into the cereal. Good tasting breakfast.

Freezing vegetables

One way to preserve your vegetables is to freeze them. Harvest your vegetables when they are just right. You don’t want them too soft. Slice and dice your vegetables as if you were going to be cooking with them today. Blanche your vegetables and then quickly place in an ice bath for a couple of minutes. Pat dry. You can either categorize your harvest by vegetable or place them into bags by categories. For instance, one bag might be for an Italian night, so that bag will have sliced zucchini and squash with rosemary sprigs. Make sure to label and date the bags or containers before you freeze them and that you are using containers that are for freezers not just sandwiches. We wouldn’t want your delicious harvest to be freezer burnt.

Gentle reminder: As we all know seeds have different means of dispersal. Some fly in the wind to new locations. Some are eaten by birds and ‘randomly distributed.’ Some stick to our shoelaces. When you are picking the stickers out of your shoelaces, don’t just flick them on the ground, that may be where the next sticker plant grows.

Beep Beep

A familiar sound from Warner Bros cartoons, Roadrunner always outsmarting Wile E. Coyote. Our Greater Roadrunners Geococcyx californianus aren’t cartoons but they are in the Cuckoo family of birds. They can travel up to 20 mph. They eat scorpions and rattlesnakes, amongst other items. Sometimes roadrunners will tag team killing a rattlesnake. One will distract the snake by flapping their wings while the other pounces from behind. A final fact, roadrunners have an x-shaped footprint. Two of their toes face forward and two toes face backwards. This is called zygodactyl feet. The shape of their “foot” enables them to grip better, for example a rattlesnake.

Till next time. Keep your souls and soles in your garden!

Remember the True Master Gardener: Jesus said, “I am the vine; my Father is the Gardener.” John 15:1.

Have questions or comments? Contact Bill at The Luedecke Group Realtors (512) 577-1463 or email bill@texasland.net. Or contact Martelle Luedecke (512) 769-3179 at luedeckephotography@gmail.com.